The moment I heard that this month’s Synchroblog would be centred on Bridging the Divides and ideas and perspectives that different bloggers might have on ways to heal these divisions in the church, I became intrigued with the fact that the division in the Church of God has always been there since after the death of Jesus Christ.
The church has always had these divisions which emanated because of the differences in the “persons” that make up the followers of the Body of Christ Jesus which we know as Church.
Before one is Born Again, he is first of all a human, after his decision to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Personal Saviour, he still remains human, but now “a man with a difference”, because he is more equipped to think in Heavenly thoughts rather than in Earthly thoughts.
Division is part of everyday life. The way we handle and view it I think is what has changed. For example, people with different orientation to life are constantly looking at people with opposing lifestyles as enemies or haters (Philippians 2: 12-16). The thoughts of bridging the divides should always take paramount place in our lives.
When the issue of serving tables rather than service to God came up in Acts 6:2, the Disciples got it under control by anointing people to manage both human and material resources. This is a great example of bridging the Divides. This singular act helped refocus the people of God back to their main aim of following. Christ Jesus.
Bridging the Divides is not Rocket Science.
I have heard it said that “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Christianity is continually dividing these days. Huge chasms have formed between conservative and liberal camps.
Theological positions are becoming more solidly entrenched. Differing views on biblical interpretation are separating us, creating walls that separate us from living in community together.
Churches are splitting. Organizations are finding themselves in the middle of the fray, unsure how to proceed because of the cost of landing on one side or the other.” ~Synchroblog April 2014, thus it’s important for us to learn some acts to help in Bridging the Divide.
The split in the Church today is highly expected because the devil has always wanted to counterfeit whatever The Lord God has done. But Jesus Christ came that we may be reconciled back to God. Jesus Christ came with the aim of bridging the divides between mankind and God. John 3:16
Because we have a heavenly antenna, we should always be tuned to God to understand that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), but with Jesus Christ, we are made more than conquerors.
Where is the balance in this egocentric generation that sings ‘My way or nothing at all’; and sincerely it is high time we cut the way we act and regard Christianity and be Christians.
To be a Christian means to be Christ-like: What did Jesus do? Jesus showed a great example of bridging the Divide, for He loved enough to die for His haters and killers.
He trusted in God not in His own strength. He wept and bled crying “…nevertheless not My will but Yours be done”. We have to and He called us to do the same – love others enough to die for them even when they are killing us and not trusting in our own strength for the superior cause of heaven remembering that We as Christians are not superior or better than others.
Until we get to Heaven we are not clear of the risk of falling prey to sin. We are all sinners saved by grace meaning not by works – Ephesians 2:8.
So if we could remember all these, we would be more tolerant of other people’s shortcomings and stop majoring on the minors. Remember that when you gave your life to Christ Jesus to manage, he cleaned your closets, you have nothing left than just to follow His footsteps.
May the wisdom of God lead you in finding ways of bridging the divides that you may find yourselves in. Amen.
This post – Bridging the Divides and Split in the Church, is written as part of the April 2014 Synchroblog: Bridging the Divides, ideas and perspectives on ways to heal the divisions in the Church.
A full list of participating blogs/websites for this month could be seen below:
- The Virtual Abbess – Abi and April’s Synchroblog – Bridging the Divides
- Caris Adel – Emotional Pacifism: Laying Down My Weapons
- Ty Grigg – Speak Truth
- Jon Huckins – Gay Marriage, World Vision, and a Unified Church?
- Mark Votava – Faith Presence in the Parish
- Mary at Lifeinthedport – let us meet in the borderlands
- Michael Donahoe – Healing Divisions in the Body of Christ
- Jeremy Myers – Unity vs. Uniformity in the Church
- Juliet at Still Learning – A Catholics Love Letter to Evangelical Women
- Dago at Scripture Insights – Jesus the Divider
- Glenn Hager – The Lowest Common Denominator
- Sarah Quezada – Standing on Church Bridges
- Doug Webster – Truth Is Not a Process, Belief Is
- Michelle Van Loon – Bridging the Divide
- Happy at Simple Felicity – are we there yet?
- Travis Klassen – The Church: Coming, Going, or Being
- Bec Cranford – Biblical Interpretation and Inerrancy: Moving beyond myopia to a grander vision of unity
- Teresa Pasquale – Bridging the Divide: Translating Between Dialects, Culture Contexts, and Heart Stirring
- Miguel Labrador – I might be willing to reconsider church hierarchies, if…
- Paul Meier – Healing the Divides Begins Within
- Liz Dyer – You Can’t Get There From Here
- K.W. Leslie – Humility
- Kathy Escobar – 10 ways we can build bridges instead of bomb them
- Loveday Anyim – The “non-Gospelized Rituals” of Pentacostalism
- Caedmon Michael – Bridging the Divides
- Carly Gelsinger – “Church Shopping” at the Wrong “Mall”: A Story of Easter Sundays
- Mallory Pickering – A Splintered People
- Pastor Edwin Fedex – Tearing Down Fences and Building Sidewalks
- Jen Baros – Bridging the Divides: How to Heal
- Burning Religion – The Impossible Space Between Us
- Bronwyn Lea – When My Children Squabble
- Christine Sine – Unified by Love Not Doctrine
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